Last update - 00:00 27/07/2007
Pirate radio, IDF crowd Israel's airwaves with broadcasts
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent
Late in the evening, anyone sitting on a bench along Chen Boulevard, near Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, might imagine himself in an almost rural setting. Central Tel Aviv is quiet, and the air is relatively clean as well. But when veteran Israel Radio monitor Miki Gurdus, who lives on this street, adjusts his satellite dish eastward, the illusion of quiet is shattered.
"When I turn my dish toward the Kirya, it's scary what goes on there," he said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces headquarters. "There's a jungle of broadcasts on an endless number of frequencies."
According to Gurdus, the air waves in the central region have been inundated with broadcasts primarily because the defense establishment uses very high-frequency communications that take over other frequencies. He says this phenomenon has been increasing.
A month ago, after control-tower transmissions at Ben Gurion International Airport were disrupted due to pirate radio broadcasts, Gurdus publicly warned about the disruptions caused by the defense establishment. The warning prompted the army to lower the power on some transmissions, he said, but the disruptions caused by army and Defense Ministry facilities are far from over.
There are numerous other transmission disruptions, largely from pirate radio stations. The disruptions affecting air traffic reflect a much broader problem: With its geographically small area, the Israeli broadcast spectrum is packed, and the frequency shortage is growing worse. There are countless contenders for the limited range of frequencies suitable for radio broadcasts. A plethora of devices and groups that use electromagnetic radiation - from television remote controls through radios and air-traffic control towers - vie over an increasingly crowded field. The fierce competition over frequencies often causes one transmitter to disrupt the broadcasts of another.
Then there is the question of health hazards due to the increased radiation on various frequencies. "Israel has an unusual problem involving to the electromagnetic spectrum, because of the crowding on communication frequencies the defense establishment utilizes," says Itzhak Ish-Horowitz of the Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting at Tel Aviv University. According to Ish-Horowitz, who served as director general of the Communications Ministry in the 1990s, technology is continually expanding the range of frequencies available for broadcasting, but the number of consumers is growing, too, so the result is crowding. He recommends negotiating with the Defense Ministry, "which has slightly more allocations than it needs, and rightly so."
The body responsible for Israel's frequencies is the Communications Ministry's Spectrum Department, which allocates broadcast frequencies and supervises their usage. This department is waging an ongoing battle against pirate radio stations, which operate non-standard transmitters that are increasingly easy to obtain.
Without effective oversight of all frequencies, it is impossible to guarantee accurate monitoring of radiation damage to human health and the environment. The Radiation Law of 2006, designed to introduce such oversight, exempted "defense activity" by the Prime Minister's Office, the Defense Ministry, the army and the police. These entities are supposed to comply with the law "to the best of their ability." The Environmental Protection Ministry also considers the defense establishment "autonomous" regarding monitoring radiation.
With increased electromagnetic radiation from the preponderance of radio and TV broadcasts, mobile phones, GPS satellites and wireless networks, the potential for adverse effects on human health has been debated for several years. But leaving humans aside, studies conducted in recent years indicate that radiation has a negative impact on the environment - for example on bird migration patterns.
Some birds have a special organ for identifying changes in the earth's electromagnetic field and adjust their migration course accordingly. "There is no doubt that high levels of radiation affect birds' migration and navigation abilities," says Dr. Yossi Leshem of Tel Aviv University. "Powerful electromagnetic radiation causes them to get lost."
The IDF Spokesman's Office responded: "The IDF operates communications systems along frequency ranges authorized and coordinated with the Communications Ministry in accordance with the law. As a rule, the IDF does not operate networks on frequencies used for communication between planes and control towers at Ben Gurion International Airport."
Regarding radiation health hazards, the IDF statement said: "The prevailing opinion among leading researchers is that the connection between radio radiation and cancer has not been proven. The Medical Corps monitors radiation at bases, and the bases located in civilian neighborhoods - their surroundings are checked scrupulously. Naturally, if the safety of soldiers serving on bases is assured, then there is certainly no danger to people living near the bases."